On October 7, terrorists broke into the home of 90-year-old Esther Cunio in Kibbutz Nir Oz. With remarkable presence of mind, Holocaust survivor Esther managed to engage them in conversation where she mentioned she was from Argentina, "the place where Messi comes from."
The terrorist gave her his weapon, and they photographed together in an image that was later published and became one of the symbols of October 7. Esther herself was not kidnapped, but eight of her family members, with whom she had dined the night before, were taken to the Gaza Strip. Her two grandsons, David Cunio and Ariel Cunio, are still held by Hamas.
The image was distributed on social media, and the building owners of what is called 'the Hawara pizzeria,' actually a supermarket and bakery, decided to exploit the shocking and forced image for humiliating advertising. The image showing the Holocaust survivor was placed next to a sign inviting people to buy pizza.
The distributed image caused enormous anger and threats from settlers that they would deal with the facility themselves. On October 12, at the order of then-Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, the building was sealed and its facade was demolished. In July 2024, the building owners attempted to reopen the shop, but their efforts were halted after 100 settlers descended on the hostile village and staged a demonstration at the location.
Earlier this week, the Civil Administration received information that the pizzeria owners had begun clearing debris around the sealed shop and had performed additional actions in preparation for reopening the place. Upon receiving the news, coordination and liaison officers from Nablus command went to the location and clarified to those present that they must immediately stop work at the site. Any renovation of the facility, the property owner was warned, would be met with immediate demolition.
Security sources told Israel Hayom that because Hawara village is defined as Area B, under Palestinian civilian control, it is complex to carry out demolition there. In light of the fact that the property owners persistently try to use the building, Civil Administration head Col. Hisham Ibrahim ordered staff work to examine how it would be possible to demolish the building.
According to the Oslo Accords, Area B is under Israeli security control, and thus buildings can also be demolished for terror crimes. However, sealing the building at the beginning of the war for incitement crime was a precedent, and therefore, this is a more challenging incident. The Civil Administration is determined to prevent the property owners from rehabilitating the facility, currently through sealing and supervision – and later if possible also through its demolition.
